Published Dec 16, 2025

Mailshake vs Lemlist: One Platform Hit 36.5% Opens. The Other… Didn’t.

Comparison Tools

Copy link

If you’ve looked at Mailshake and Lemlist lately, you’ve seen the same promises on repeat:

“better outreach, higher deliverability, more replies”

Cool. But pricing pages don’t tell you what happens after you hit “launch.”

Anyone running cold email at scale knows the truth.

The gap between tools shows up in setup friction, inbox placement, personalization depth, and team workflows.

And that’s what makes a campaign pay off, or disappear without a trace.

So we put both platforms through real campaigns, sent 1,104 emails, tracked what moved the needle, and documented what didn’t.

Here’s the breakdown that matters:

How each tool has evolved
Performance across real sends
End-to-end workflows (outreach → reporting)
Where each one wins, loses, or surprises
Final verdict

Let’s get into it.

The Evolution of Mailshake vs Lemlist

Let’s look at how both Mailshake and Lemlist have evolved over time in terms of core functionality, integrations, and UI/UX:

Let’s take a closer look.

Mailshake

Mailshake began as a simple cold email tool focused on usability and volume.

Over time, it shifted toward specialized outreach, adding serious deliverability support, better automation, and eventually moving into a more AI-assisted sales engagement approach.

Its evolution reflects a steady, incremental upgrade path aimed at reliability, cleaner workflows, and predictable scaling for outbound teams.

Lemlist

Lemlist took a more aggressive, fast-moving route, gaining traction with personalization features, community building, and strong branding.

It quickly expanded into a full sales engagement platform, integrated AI early, and made strategic moves like the Claap acquisition to widen its ecosystem.

Lemlist’s evolution shows a push toward innovation, experimental features, and a more “creative-first” approach to outreach.

Major Updates (March 2024 – Till Date): Mailshake vs Lemlist

Mailshake Update	Verified Details
Call History Panel	Introduced a panel showing recent calls with playback, recordings, and call actions.
Lead Temperature	Added visual engagement scoring to help identify “hot” or active leads.
Company-Based Sending Pause	Automatically pauses outreach to a company when someone from that domain replies or converts.
Warm-Up Integration	Mailshake acquired Warm Up Your Email, strengthening deliverability and inbox-warming capabilities.
Deliverability Best Practices Module	Published expanded documentation & built-in guidance on domain setup, inbox rotation, and spam-avoidance workflows.

Major Updates (March 2024 – Till Date): Lemlist

Lemlist Update	Verified Details
Native Calling (In-App Dialer)	Added in-platform calling to support multi-channel outreach directly inside Lemlist.
Google Sheets Add-On	Released an add-on enabling lead sourcing inside Sheets with enrichment and direct sync into campaigns.
AI-Powered Content Suggestions	Added AI-driven message suggestions, variable generation, and prompt-based content creation.
Real-Time Lead Scoring	Introduced live scoring based on opens, clicks, and interactions to help prioritize prospects.
Claap Acquisition	Announced acquisition of Claap, integrating async video workflows into the sales engagement ecosystem.

Future Roadmap Predictions for Mailshake vs Lemlist

Mailshake — Where It’s Clearly Heading

Mailshake’s recent updates and public messaging point toward three obvious areas of continued investment:

Focus Area	What to Expect	Why This Is Likely
AI-Assisted Outreach	More AI help in writing, sequencing, and optimizing campaigns.	Mailshake launched “SHAKEspeare AI” and is pushing AI-driven personalization.
Deliverability + Domain Health	Stronger warm-up automation, domain rotation tools, inbox placement insights.	Their blogs and guides emphasize deliverability as a core advantage.
Cleaner Multichannel Workflows	Deeper support for email + phone + social sequences.	Their homepage already highlights a shift toward multichannel outreach.

Summary: Mailshake is moving toward stable, predictable, AI-supported outreach with a big focus on deliverability and workflow simplicity.

Lemlist — Where It’s Clearly Heading

Lemlist’s recent features and acquisitions suggest a faster, more expansion-driven roadmap:

Focus Area	What to Expect	Why This Is Likely
Richer Multichannel Sequencing	More channels, smarter triggers, and deeper behavioral flows.	They recently added calling + real-time lead scoring.
AI-Powered Personalization	More AI templates, dynamic variables, and automated content generation.	Lemlist is actively expanding its AI-driven message creation tools.
Ecosystem Expansion	New integrations, partner features, and add-on modules.	The Claap acquisition signals a push toward a broader sales engagement ecosystem.

Summary: Lemlist is leaning into faster innovation, more channels, and aggressive AI-driven personalization with a growing platform ecosystem.

TL;DR: Mailshake vs Lemlist (For readers in a hurry)

Category	Mailshake	Lemlist
Best For	Teams wanting simple, reliable outreach with strong deliverability foundations.	Users wanting multichannel outreach, personalization, and faster feature expansion.
Core Strength	Deliverability tools + clean workflow + predictable sending.	Creative personalization + multichannel sequences + AI-driven content.
AI Capabilities	AI writing assistant (“SHAKEspeare AI”) focused on clean, non-generic email output.	AI templates, variable generation, and prompt-based message creation.
Personalization Style	Text-focused, practical, engagement-driven.	Heavier on visual personalization (images, dynamic elements).
Multichannel Support	Email + phone + limited social steps.	Email + calls + social steps + more flexible sequence building.
Deliverability Focus	Strong emphasis (warm-up integration, domain health guides).	Good deliverability tools, but more focused on creativity and multichannel.
Ease of Use	Straightforward, minimal learning curve.	More features = more flexibility but a slightly busier UI.
Overall Rating	4.3/5	4.5/5

Performance Showdown: 1,104-Lead Campaign Test Between Mailshake and Lemlist

Here’s what happened when we pushed the same leads, same copy, and same sending schedule through both platforms:

Lemlist drove 4.3× higher opens (36.5% vs. 8.4%).
Reply rates were low across both, but Lemlist still edged ahead (0.4% vs. 0.2%).
Mailshake produced slightly more bounces (2.2% vs. 1.9%).

Same list. Same messaging. Same timing.

The only variable was the platform, and the gap showed up immediately.

Next we’ll move to feature breakdown.

Campaign Process and Management

Mailshake Outreach Process

1) Start a Campaign

You choose between:

Create with AI (campaign ready in minutes, AI-generated first draft).
Create from scratch (add custom steps and build condition-based sequences).

2) Add Prospects

Prospects can be added via:

CSV upload
Enter manually
Sync with app / integration

Mailshake then walks you through:

Imported lists
Map fields
Review prospects

3) Configure Sending Settings

Before writing, you set basic send controls:

Track opens
Track clicks
Schedule this send (optional)

4) Build the Sequence

You can:

Create a new sequence
Import a sequence
Start from a template library (searchable list of prebuilt templates)

5) Write Emails

The editor supports:

Standard formatting + variables
AI assist inside the composer
A visible “Try SHAKEspeare AI Re-Write” option for improving drafts

6) Personalize

A dedicated Personalize step lets you review prospect-level personalization and segments before sending.

7) Preview & Confirm

Mailshake shows a final confirmation screen summarizing:

Campaign name
Assigned inbox
Mail account
Tracking settings
Start time
Number of prospects

Then you confirm and launch.

In Reports, you can find the overall campaign performance.

Next we’ll see the Lemlist campaign process.

Lemlist Outreach Process

Lemlist structures outreach setup around two starting modes, then a modular, multichannel sequence builder. The flow is built to combine email + LinkedIn actions + calls/tasks in one campaign.

1) Start a Campaign

You get three ways to begin:

Create with AI (Beta): fast setup, smart leadlist generator, “one lead, one personalized approach.”
Create manually: add steps/leads yourself, write messages using variables, build condition-based sequences.
Start with templates: browse a library of 100+ templates and launch from a prebuilt flow.

2) Build the Sequence (Multichannel Steps)

In manual mode, Lemlist asks you to pick your first step from a step library. Available steps include:

Automatic steps: Email, LinkedIn chat message, LinkedIn voice message, LinkedIn invitation, LinkedIn profile visit.
Manual execution: Call, Manual task.
Other steps: Call an API, Send to another campaign.

There’s also a Conditions tab to create branching logic.

3) Write / Edit Messages Inline

The sequence builder shows steps on the left and a live editor on the right. You can:

Edit email content directly per step.
Insert variables (e.g., first name, company).
Add personalization for spintax.

4) Import Leads

Lead import options shown:

CSV import
LinkedIn import
CRM import
Manual import
Advanced imports

Lemlist has “people database”, leads can be imported.

5) Enrich Leads During Import

Before finalizing, Lemlist offers enrichment toggles:

Find verified emails
Find phone numbers
Find LinkedIn profiles + enrich data
Verify existing emails

You also choose duplicate handling rules before importing the list.

6) Schedule Sending

Inside Settings → Schedules, you can:

Use a default schedule (days + send window).
Create a new schedule.
Modify, save as template, or delete schedules.

This controls when campaigns send without editing steps.

AI-Powered Personalization & Smart Insights

Mailshake AI

In the email editor, there’s a direct AI action labeled “Try SHAKEspeare AI Re:Write.”

→ AI is used to rewrite the email you already drafted.

Clicking it opens a SHAKEspeare AI Re:Write page with:

→ Original email fields (subject + body) on the left.

→ Improved version on the right.

The tool outputs a rewritten subject and body.

The rewrite page includes two visible actions:

→ “Re-Write My Email” (regenerate the improved version).

→ “Generate Follow-Up” (create a follow-up email from the same draft).

The email copy quality is decent.

Lemlist AI

In the email step editor, there’s an “Ask AI” button.

→ AI is accessed from inside the sequence editor.

When you click Ask AI, one of the available actions is “Make Email More Persuasive.”

→ AI is used to improve the draft you’re working on.

Selecting Make Email More Persuasive opens an AI result panel showing:

→ Generated Subject

→ Generated email body

Lemlist outputs a rewritten subject and full email copy. The output quality is decent.

Database

Mailshake Data Finder

Mailshake’s “database” is the Data Finder add-on. It’s a built-in prospecting layer separate from campaign sending.

What Data Finder does

Lets you search for prospects inside Mailshake instead of using a separate lead database tool.
Search filters include job title/role, company, industry, and location.
Results provide names and business contact details (emails) that you can pull into campaigns.
You can export/download leads from Data Finder.

LinkedIn-based prospecting

Mailshake’s Chrome extension includes a Data Finder tab that uses LinkedIn search (including Sales Navigator) to find emails and import them into Mailshake.

Lemlist People Database

Lemlist’s database is its built-in B2B Lead / People Database, includes 600M+ contacts and 65M+ companies.

How you use it

You open the People database from the left sidebar, search, then import selected leads into a campaign.
Filters shown/outlined in Lemlist docs include job title, company, industry, country/location, plus additional filter groups (general, signals/intent, company info, contact info).
Leads can be pushed into campaigns in a few clicks.

Enrichment tied to the database

Lemlist pairs the database with waterfall enrichment to pull verified emails, phone numbers, and LinkedIn data.
Enrichment uses credits; e.g., verified email finding is credit-based and charged only when a valid email is found.

LinkedIn workflow

Lemlist’s Chrome extension can scrape LinkedIn / Sales Navigator searches, fetch verified contact data, and push leads into Lemlist campaigns.